The 1981 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament (now known as the

Big West Conference men's basketball tournament The Big West men's basketball tournament (formerly the Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Big West Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament and ...

) was held March 5–7 at the

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Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. Top-seeded

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

topped defending champions in the title game, 52–48, to win the Bulldogs' first PCAA/Big West men's basketball tournament. The Bulldogs, in turn, received a bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament, their first-ever appearance.

Format

The format remained the same as 1979, with seven teams in the field. PCAA member

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

did not participate. Withseven teams participating, the top-seeded team was given a bye into the semifinals while the remaining six teams were entered into the first round and seeded based on regular season conference records.

Bracket

References

{{1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament navbox Big West Conference men's basketball tournament

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament